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See How a Knifeman stabbed two women to death in Marseille

A suspected
Islamist knifeman killed two women at the main train station in the French
Mediterranean city of Marseille on Sunday before being shot dead by soldiers on
patrol, Owojela’s Blog learnt.

One of the
victims had her throat slit by the assailant, a man with a criminal record
believed to be in his 30s who witnesses said shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is
Greatest) at the start of his rampage.

French
Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said about a dozen witnesses were being
questioned.

“This act
could be terrorist in nature but at this time we cannot confirm that,” he
added.

Soldiers
serving in a special 7,000-strong force known as Sentinelle set up to guard
vulnerable areas in terror-hit France responded to the stabbings and shot dead
the attacker, whose identity remains unknown.

“I was on
the esplanade just in front of the station,” Melanie Petit, an 18-year-old
student, told AFP. “I heard someone shout ‘Allahu Akbar’ and I saw a man who
seemed to be dressed all in black.”

Heavily
armed police sealed off and evacuated the ornate rail terminus in the bustling
heart of France’s second-biggest city, stopping all train traffic on some of
the country’s busiest lines.

The latest
deaths came with France still on high alert and under a state of emergency
following a string of attacks in recent years by extremists linked to the
Islamic State group or Al-Qaeda.

Since 2015,
a total of 239 people have been killed in France by jihadists, according to an
AFP count before Sunday’s incident.

After the
lunchtime attack, anti-terror prosecutors said they had opened an investigation
into “killings linked to a terrorist organisation” and the “attempted killing
of a public official”.

Travellers
around the station described “controlled panic” as security forces evacuated
passengers and looked for possible accomplices, while another witness said
white sheets were placed over the bodies of the victims.

“There were
police everywhere,” said Francois Jacquel, a retired traveller who was in a
waiting room.

The incident
came only days after the IS released a recording of what it said was its leader
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi urging his followers to strike their enemies in the West.

France has
deployed troops and its air force to the Middle East and is a leading partner
in the US-led international coalition fighting IS in Iraq and Syria, where the
jihadists are being driven back.

The country
has suffered several major terror attacks since 2015, including on satirical
magazine Charlie Hebdo in January of that year followed by an assault on Paris
bars and the Bataclan concert hall by gunmen 10 months later.

In Nice in
July 2016, 86 people were killed when an extremist drove a truck into crowds
after a fireworks display on Bastille Day.

But there
have also been numerous smaller attacks on police officers, soldiers or members
of the public since then, sometimes carried out by people with severe
psychological problems.

Since
November 2015, the country has been in a state of emergency which gives the
government and security forces greater powers to combat extremists and launch
anti-terror raids.

The federal
government through the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has apologised
to Air Peace Airlines and its passengers after a herd of cattle strayed onto
the runway of Akure Airport in Ondo state.

Nigerian
football star Victor Moses scored on his 209th Premier League appearance as
Chelsea put behind them their recent struggles by thrashing West Bromwich
Albion 3-0 at the Stamford Bridge on Monday.

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The Special
Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Social Media, Lauretta Onochie has
responded to the claims that the Tsaigumi commissioned in Kaduna during the
week, was first launched by ex-president Goodluck Jonathan in 2013.